Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2022/Fall/Section087/James McDaniel

Overview

This interview is conducted by Wilson L. Heflin while on a bus in Alabama. James McDaniel is a stoker living in Alabama during the Great Depression. He is working in order to help pay for his education and to help his sick mother. He has had multiple levels of education at this point, and it attending university out of the state.

Biography

Early Life and Current Life

James McDaniel was born sometime around 1919, in Georgia. His family consisted of his father, mother, and his older brother Ed McDaniel. Growing up, McDaniel worked and lived on his families farm in Georgia. Their family farm provided little income for them, so little in fact that they could not afford to buy fuel for their family car. McDaniel's brother was in a steady job at that point, until he got fired after fighting with a co worker. Ed McDaniel was not able to get another job for a long time. This almost forced McDaniel's father to pull him out of school to help work, even though he was performing well in school. In the interview McDaniel mentions that his mother said, "he could amount to something". This statement convinced his father to allow him to stay in school instead of working.

When the interview takes place, McDaniel is working in Birmingham, Alabama. McDaniel was working for his uncles company, "Mac-Wates Fuel Company". At his uncles company he worked as a stoker, which McDaniel remarked as a "Fine hot weather job. McDaniel is working to help pay for his college education at Iowa State, while also sending money back home to his mother, who at this point is sickly. McDaniel lives in a boarding house, near where the author lives. McDaniel says in the interview that the worst part of his living conditions were, "...the nice people. I come from work with soot all over me and grime under my fingernails... I come in my shirt sleeves. The other people-most of them pretty old-come in dressed up."

Education

James McDaniel was fortunate enough to be able to attend high school in Georgia while growing up. After he graduated high school, he attended Berry College in Georgia, where he was able to graduate with a Master of Arts in Chemistry. McDaniel had decided after witnessing a car accident when he was younger that he wanted to go into the sciences, however he wanted to avoid blood as he could not stand the sight of it. McDaniel decided on pursuing a PhD in Chemistry from Iowa State, which is the university he is attending at the time of the interview. He credits Berry College for instilling in him good values, he says "So many people, these days don't have any ambition ... Seems that youngsters who grew up in the depression times get a beaten attitude before they get started at all." He then goes on to say, "I had a hard time and still have, but I'm determined it won't be that way for long. I guess Berry did me lots of good." McDaniel describes his usual day to day routine to the interviewer of waking up early before his classes begin and either doing homework or reviewing the previous lessons before attending his lectures for the day. He then describes going home late because of either his lectures or labs for the day, and then going to bed past midnight because he stays up late to do more work for his classes.

Social Context

Education during the Great Depression

Schooling during this time period was already a privilege in of itself, with only higher income families usually being able to afford multiple years of education. Being educated was usually a secondary thought to less wealthy families, this became even more true once the depression hit. It was not uncommon for children attending school to drop out in order to assist their family. This assistance could come in many forms, some children would work on their family farm or travel across the country in search of a job. During the Great Depression, many schools could not afford to pay the teachers they had. In addition to not being able to pay their teachers, some schools faced the grim idea of not even being able to afford basic utilities for their classrooms. These circumstances meant that more than often the average classroom would be overcrowded, with an unqualified and severely underpaid teacher, and reduced electricity and heat to the room. The result of the circumstances the Great Depression created was a very poor learning environment for these students. The lack of funding for these schools also lead to some schools having to cease running their busses. These busses for some students where their only way of being able to attend school. This then forced some students to have walk long distances in order to receive their education.

Education in the North vs. the South during the Great Depression

The Great Depression's impact on schools was felt across the United States in multiple different ways. The depression resulted in schools receiving less funding, which created issues for these institutions. Across the United States, around 20,000 schools had to close because of the lack of funding. The southern United States felt the impacts of the depression on their schooling harder for the most part than their northern counterparts. Many people in the south were already poor before the depression hit, which only amplified the effects of the depression. The south during the depression had one of the lowest standards of education found anywhere in the United States. Meanwhile during the depression, the northern states had one of the highest standards of education in the country, particularly in the New England area.

References

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3. Davis, Anita Price. 2010. “Public Schools in North Carolina in the Great Depression | NCpedia.” Www.ncpedia.org. 2010. https://www.ncpedia.org/public-schools-great-depression.
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6. Shores, Kenneth, and Matthew P. Steinberg. 2019. “Schooling during the Great Recession: Patterns of School Spending and Student Achievement Using Population Data.” AERA Open 5 (3): 233285841987743. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419877431.
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8. Webb, Daryl. 2019. “Children in Urban America - Marquette University.” Marquette.edu. 2019. https://www.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/cuap/db.cgi?uid=default&ID=3544&view=Search&mh=1.
9. Wilson L. Heflin's Interview of James McDaniel, in the Federal Writers' Project papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.